This invention relates to a system of containers for small craft items such as beads or the like which compartmentalizes similar craft items together and provides visual access to all of the craft items within each of the compartments.
People who work with beads either as a hobby or in their profession may accumulate hundreds of different designs and types of beads which vary by color and size as well as material. Until now, it has been difficult to easily store the multitude of types of beads such that they are all visually accessible and easily retrievable to the person during use, as well as providing containers that are stackable and easily transportable.
In the prior art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,743 (""743) issued to Dalbo, a bead tray is disclosed wherein individual compartments lay adjacent to each other within a tray formation. A pair of individual compartments butt up to each other at their end walls so that the front walls of each compartment are adjacent to the peripheral wall of the tray. A funnel opening from each compartment has an aperture through the peripheral wall of the tray for retrieval of the beads. In order to visually distinguish each of the types of beads contained in each compartment of the prior art, a single tray must be unlayered to expose and view the different beads stored therein. The bead storage tray disclosed in U.S. Patent ""743 would necessarily require an extremely long length to view dozens of different beads at one time. This configuration would not provide for easy storage and transport of the beads. In addition, to remove a particular type of bead from its compartment, the entire tray must be tilted on an angle to allow the bead to flow through the funnel. If the tray is long in order to contain many dozens of types of beads, tilting the tray to retrieve a particular bead would be cumbersome. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a bead holder which allows a person to easily transport and visually distinguish more than a hundred different types and colors of beads at one time.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned concerns by providing a bead holder for storage of a plurality of beads and for the separation of like kinds of beads having an open frame with a sleeve formation and a solid top surface with through front and rear openings. The frame slidably receives a drawer therein. The drawer has an open-ended top providing access to the interior of the drawer. The interior of the drawer has a predetermined width and length for receiving a plurality of outer cases therein. Each outer case has a width corresponding with the interior width of the drawer. Each outer case is capable of receiving storage tubes having removable plastic plug closures. A plurality of storage tubes are capable of placement and storage within each outer case.
Another aspect of the invention provides that the frame, drawer, outer case and storage tubes are made from a clear plastic material to provide visual access to a multitude of beads stored therein.
In another aspect of the invention, the sleeve formation of the frame is open along five sides having reinforced edges and corners to outline the frame, and a solid plastic top surface to prevent the outer cases being inadvertently dislodged from the drawer when the drawer is within the frame.
In yet a further aspect of the invention, the parallel lower edges of the frame have a rail guide formed along an inner surface of the lower edge. The drawer has a bottom surface having a pair of rails positioned to align with the rail guide on the frame to provide easy slidable movement of the drawer within the frame.